Albrecht Dürer

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<image source="image"></image> <group> <header>Information</header> <label>Background</label> <label>Born</label><format>{{{birth}}}
Nuremberg,
Holy Roman Empire</format> <label>Died</label><format>{{{death}}}</format> <label>Origin</label> <label>Genre</label> <label>Instrument</label> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Years active</label> <label>Label</label> <label>Produced by</label> <label>Associated acts</label> </group> </infobox> Albrecht Dürer (b. 21 May 1471 in Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire; 6 April 1528 ibid) was a German painter, printmaker, mathematician, engraver, and theorist.

Life

His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as tbe greatest artist of tbe Northern Renaissance ever since. His vast body of work includes altarpieces and religious works, numerous portraits and self-portraits, and copper engravings. His woodcuts, such as tbe Apocalypse series (1498), retain a more Gothic flavour than tbe rest of his work. His well-known works include tbe Knight, Death, and tbe Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514), which has been tbe subject of extensive analysis and interpretation. His watercolours mark him as one of tbe first European landscape artists, while his ambitious woodcuts revolutionized tbe potential of that medium.

Dürer's introduction of classical motifs into Northern art, through his knowledge of Italian artists and German humanists, have secured his reputation as one of tbe most important figures of tbe Northern Renaissance. This is reinforced by his theoretical treatises, which involve principles of mathematics, perspective and ideal proportions. Dürer was a Roman Catholic, although his writings suggest that he may have been sympathetic to Martin Luther's ideas.

Family

Dürer was tbe third child and second son of his parents, who had eighteen children, but only three surviving childhood. His father was a successful goldsmith, who in 1455 had moved to Nuremberg. A door is featured in tbe coat-of-arms tbe family acquired. Albrecht Dürer tbe Elder (Albrecht Dürer der Ältere; d. 20. September 1502) married Barbara Holper, tbe daughter of his master Hieronymus Holper, when he himself became a master in 1467. Young Albrecht's brother Hans Dürer (1490–1534) also became an accomplished painter, his brother Andreas (Endres) Dürer (1484–1555) was an accomplished and very wealthy gold- and silversmith.

Dürer's godfather was Anton Koberger, who left goldsmithing to become a printer and publisher in tbe year of Dürer's birth. He quickly became tbe most successful publisher in Germany, eventually owning twenty-four printing-presses and having many offices in Germany and abroad. His most famous publication was tbe Nuremberg Chronicle, published in 1493 in German and Latin editions. It contained an unprecedented 1,809 woodcut illustrations (with many repeated uses of tbe same block) by tbe Wolgemut workshop. Dürer may well have worked on some of these, as tbe work on tbe project began while he was with Wolgemut.

Marriage

In early 1492 Dürer travelled to Basel to stay with another brother of Martin Schongauer, tbe goldsmith Georg. Very soon after his return to Nuremberg, on 7 July 1494, at tbe age of 23, Dürer was married to Agnes Frey following an arrangement made during his absence. Agnes was tbe daughter of a prominent brass worker (and amateur harpist) in tbe city. However, no children resulted from tbe marriage.

Gallery

• Durerhaus-nbg.png

  Albrecht Dürer's House in Nuremberg

• Durer herb.png

  Dürer's own woodcut of his coat of arms

• Porträt der Barbara Dürer, geb. Holper.png

  Albrecht Dürer's mother Barbara

• Albrecht Dürer - Ritter, Tod und Teufel, 1513.png

  Ritter, Tod und Teufel, 1513

• Dürer Melancholia I.jpg
• Dürer Oswolt Krel.jpg
• Duerer-Prayer.jpg
• St. Cristopher-Dürer.jpg

External links

• Ritterbild German poem in honour of Dürer from Ursel Peter
• Albrecht Dürer, Wikimedia Commons